Sewing machine presser foot



Feb. 27, 1968 M. M. I ONGCORE 3,370,559

SEWING MACHINE PRESSER FOOT I Filed sept. 2o, 1965 j3d 17a FIEL United States Patent O 3,370,559 SEWNG MACHINE PRESSER FQGT Milton M. Longcore, Stronach, Mich., assigner to lGien Mfg., lne., a corporation of Wisconsin Filed Sept. 20, w65, Ser. No. 488,665 9 Claims. (Cl. i12-235) ABSTRACT F THE DISCLGSURE A sewing machine presser foot for use in making parallel rows of stitching wherein said presser foot includes a pair of laterally spaced toes with rst and second spaced parallel guide surfaces being provided on one of said toes for guiding a piece of material past a needle reciprocating in a slot between said toes.

This invention relates in general to sewing machines, and more particularly to a new and improved presser foot for use in a sewing machine.

ln the sewing machine art it is conventional to attach a presser foot to a support member carried by the sewing machine with the presser foot being spaced slightly from the bed of the machine. Feed dogs are provided in the sewing machine bed for feeding material past a vertically reciprocal needle, which is received between the spaced toes of the presser foot. Oftentimes it is desired to make a pair of parallel rows of stitching, as for example in top stitching necklines and armholes. Such parallel stitching is conventionally done on a two-needle flatbed or split bar machine, however, when the edge of the garment being stitched is greatly curved such machines are unsatisfactory. Accordingly, the general purpose of the present invention is to provide a sewing machine presser foot with guide means which enable two parallel rows of stitching to be made with a single needle operation, and which will give the appearance qualitywise that the garment has been sewn with a two-needle machine.

An object of the invention is to provide a presser foot for a sewing machine which facilitates the sewing of parallel seams with a single needle operation.

Another object of the invention is to provide a sewing machine presser foot with guide means for accurately spacing two parallel rows of stitching, so that the sewing machine can be operated at full speed and yet produce evenly spaced rows with a single needle operation.

A further object of the invention is to provide a presser foot as described above which will enable parallel rows of stitching to be made at an edge of a garment, even though the edge is extremely curved.

Further objects and advantages will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the presser foot embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view taken generally along line 3-3 of FIG. 1 illustrating sewing of a row of stitching closely adjacent to the curved edge of a garment;

FlG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3, and illustrating the sewing of a row of stitching parallel to the row being sewn in FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is a front perspective view of the illustrated vto lee

presser foot embodiment shown in position over a sewing machine bed.

While this invention is susceptible of embodiment in many different forms, there is shown in the drawing and will herein be described in detail one specific embodiment with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplitication of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the embodiment illustrated. The scope of the invention will be pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring now to the drawing, a shank portion 11 of the illustrated presser foot embodiment 16 is shown connected to a support 12, depending from a sewing machine, by a set screw 13. The illustrated embodiment of the presser foot is a so-called compensating presser foot, and the lower end of the shank portion 11 includes spaced sides 14 and 15 which define a cavity 16 therebetween. The foot portion of the presser foot 1li includes a pair of laterally adjacent compensating levers 17 and 13. Levers 17 and 18 include respective portions 17a and 18a of reduced width which are nested within the cavity 16, and a pivot pin 20 passes through the sides 14 and 15, and the lever portions 17a and 18a to mount the levers 17 and 18 for pivotal movement relative to the sewing machine support 12. Lever 17 includes a forwardly extending toe portion 17b of reduced width so as to define a needle receiving slot 19 between the levers 17 and 18 for reception of a needle 22. Biasing means in the form of a compression spring 21 is provided in the cavity 16, and bears against the upper surface 16a of the cavity 16 and against the upper surface of the lever 18 to bias the same in a clockwise direction about the pivot pin 20. A shoulder 1gb is provided in the undersurface of lever portion 18a, and is engaged by a laterally outwardly extending abutment 17C on the lever 17 so that the lever 18 moves upwardly in response to upward movement of the lever 17, yet is free to move independently thereof against the bias of spring 21. The above-described presser foot construction is conventional, and such a presser foot is commercially available.

In the commercially available presser foot described above, the compensating lever 1'7 is slightly longer than the compensating lever 18. However, in the presser foot of the present invention, the compensating lever 17 has been reduced in length, and the forward end thereof 17d is tapered for a purpose to hereafter appear.

First guide means are associated with the lever 1S, and include a generally vertically disposed side face 23 which faces the slot 19. As is best seen in FlG. 1, lever 1S is somewhat thicker than the lever 17, so that the surface 23 is exposed substantially from end to end of the lever 18. A dished out, or slightly curved recess 2d is provided at the forward end of surface 23 for guiding the Curved edge of a garment along the guide surface 23 as will hereafter appear. A guide pin 25 extends generally laterally of the surface 23 adjacent the lower portion of the forward end thereof. As is best seen in FIG. 2, the guide pin 25 is inclined slightly upwardly, at approximately 15 degrees to facilitate the holding of the garment against the guide surface 23.

Referring now to FIG. 3, a garment G is shown having a curved edge E. with a row of stitching 26 being sewn parallel to the edge E. It will be noted that the guide pin 25 is positioned under the garment, and that the edge E bears against the guide surface 23 as the garment G 3 is being fed past the needle 22. The guide surface 23 spaces the row of stitching 26 inwardly from the edge E a proper amount, and the dished out portion 24 of the guide surface 23 enables the curved edge of the garment to be moved more easily past the guide surface 23. Since the guide pin 2S is disposed below the leading Y edge 17d of the lever 17, the garment may be fed without difficulty along the guide surface 23.

Second guide means is associated with the lever 18, and includes a guide member 27 having a vertically disposed portion thereof positioned on the side of lever V18 remote from the slot 19. As is best seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, the guide member Z7 includes a vertically disposed guide surface 28 which extends slightly below the plane of the lower surface of the lever 18. A guide pin 29 extends generally laterally of guide surface 28. Guide pin 29 is somewhat flattened, so as to provide an upper guide surface 29a, and as best seen in FIG. 1, the guide surface 29ais disposed in general parallelism with the upwardly inclined forward portion 28a of guide surface 28.

Referring now to FlG. 4, a row of stitching 3G is illustrated being sewn parallel to row 26. During the stitching of row 30, the garment passes over the guide pin 29 and under the lower surface of lever 1S. Since guide surface 28 is spaced from and parallel with guide surface 23 the row of stitching 36 can be made parallel with the row of stitching 26 within a great degree of accuracy by having the operator feed the garment G with the edge E thereof bearing against the guide surface Z8. The inclined orientation of guide surface 29a and the upward inclination of guide pin 25 enable the garment G to be inserted beneath the lever 18 and fed along the guide surface 28 without difiiculty.

In the preferred embodiment, the pin 25 is made of steel and is soldered or otherwise suitably secured to the lever 18, while the guide member 27 is formed of brass and is also soldered to the lever 18. Member 27 may have a transversely extending portion 27a fixed to the upper portion of the lever 18 to enhance the securement of the member 27 to the lever 18.

From the above, it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention fully achieves each of the objects set forth above.

I claim:

1. A presser foot structure for a sewing machine, comprising: a shank portion for attaching the foot to a sewing machine; a foot portion at the lower end of said shank portion, and including a pair of spaced forwardly extending toes defining a needle receiving slot therebetween; first guide means on a side of one toe facing said slot, said first guide means including a first guide surface for guiding the edge of a garment past said needle to sew a seam adjacent said edge, said first guide means further including a rst guide pin extending laterally of said first guide surface and adapted to be received under said garment to assist in retaining the edge of said garment against said first guide surface, said guide pin being normally disposed below the undersurface of the leading edge of the other of said toes; and second guide means on said one toe and spaced from said first guide' means, and including a second guide surface generally parallel with said first guide surface for guiding the edge of the garment past said needle to sew a seam spaced from and generally parallel with said first mentioned seam.

2. A presser foot structure as defined in claim 1 wherein said guide pin is disposed generally transversely of said first guide surface.

3. A presser foot structure as defined in claim 1 wherein said second guide means is provided adjacent the side of said one toe remote from said slot, and further includes a second guide pin extending laterally of said second guide surface, and adapted to be received under said garment to assist in retaining the edge of said garment against said guide surface.

4. A presser foot as defined in claim 3 wherein said second guide pin is disposed generally transversely of said second guide surface. Y

5. A presser foot structure for a sewing machine, comprising: a shank portion for attaching the foot to a sewing machine; a foot portion at the lower end of said shank portion, and including a pair of spaced forwardly extending toes defining a needle receiving siot therebetween; first guide means on a side of one of said toes facing said slot, said guide means including a first guide surface for guiding the edge of a garment past said needle to sew a seam adjacent said edge; said guide means further including a guide pin that is disposed generally transversely of said first guide surface and that is upwardly inclined at a slight angle with respect to the horizontal and which is adapted to be received under said garment to assist iu retaining the edge of said garment against said first guide surface; and second guide means spaced from said first guide means, and including a second guide surface generally parallel with said first guide surface for guiding the edge of the garment past said needle to sew a seam spaced from and generally parallel with said first men-V tending toes defining a needle receiving slot therebetween;

first guide means on a side of one of said toes facing said slot, said guide means including a first guide surface for guiding the edge of a garment past said needle to sew a seam adjacent said edge, said guide means further including a guide pin extending laterally of said first guide surface, and adapted to be received under said garment to assist in retaining vthe edge of said garment against said guide surface, said first guide surface being recessed adjacent said pin and rearwardly thereof; and second guide means spaced from said first guide means, and including a second guide surface generally parallel with said first guide surface for guiding the edge of the garment past said needle to sew a seam spaced from and generally parallel with said first mentioned seam.

7. A presser foot structure for a sewing machine, comprising: a shank portion for attaching the foot to a sewing machine; a foot portion at the lower end of said shank portion, and including a pair of spaced forwardly extending toes defining a needle receiving slot therebetween; first guide surface on a side of one of said toes facing said slot for guiding the edge of a garment past said needle to sew a seam adjacent said edge; a first guide pin extending laterally of said first guide surface, and adapted to be received under said garment to assist in retaining the edge of said garment against said guide surface; a second guide surface on a side'of said one toe remote from said slot, said second guide surface being generally parallel with said first guide surface for guiding the edge of the garment past said needle to sew a seam spaced from and generally parlel with said first mentioned seam; and a second guide pinY extending laterally of said second guide surface in the same general direction as said first guide pin, and adapted to be received under said garment to assist in retaining the edge of said garment against said second guide surface.

8. A presser foot structure for a sewing machine, comprising: a shank portion for attaching the foot to a sewing machine; a foot portion at the lower end of said shank portion, and including a pair of spaced forwardly extending toes defining a needle receiving slot therebetween, one of said toes being larger than the other of said toes; a first guide surface on a side of the longer of said toes facing said slot for guiding the edge of a garment past said needle to sew a seam adjacent said edge; a first guide pin extending laterally of Vsaid first guide surface, and adapted to be received under said garment to assist in retaining the edge of said garment against said guide surface; a second guide surface on a side of said longer toe remote from said slot, said second guide surface being generally parallel with said first guide surface for guiding the edge of the garment past said needle to sew a seam spaced from and generally parallel with said iirst mentioned seam; and a second guide pin extending laterally of said second guide surface, and adapted to be received under said garment to assist in retaining the edge of said garment against said second guide surface.

9. A presser foot structure as defined in claim 8 wherein the forward end of the shorter toe is tapered.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,478,073 8/ 1949 Antonelli 112-151 2,487,285 11/ 1949 Voight 112-235 2,699,743 1/1955 Hill 112-151 X PATRICK D. LAWSON, Primary Examiner. 

